The Confusing Homophone
In my article on the importance of proofreading I alluded to, but did not spell out, what constitutes correct spelling and punctuation.
This obviously depends on the language in which the product is produced as each language has its own rules, spellings, and pronunciations. English is somewhat of a maverick language as it has and continues to take what it wants out of other languages and incorporates it into everyday usage; so English {at least American English} is a continuous evolving language BUT rules still apply.
According to http://www.paulnoll.com/Books/clear-English/Problem-Words-1.html there are three kinds of problem words in the American English Language.
Homographs are words that are spelled AND pronounced the same BUT have different meanings. For example: Arms ~ upper limbs on a human body or arms ~ weapons
There are 171 sets of these words.
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Heteronyms have a mere 27 sets of words which are spelled the same, pronounced differently, AND have different meanings. For example ~ minute {mahy-noot or my-noot} meaning small; minute {min-it} meaning 60 seconds.
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Homophones are words that are spelled differently BUT pronounced the same; their meanings are also different.
There are two sets of these words out of the 278 sets that I often see used incorrectly.
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Which sentence is correct?
1. Their are two many people they’re too fit into the space where there suppose to be standing.
2. There are too many people there to fit into the space where they’re suppose to be standing.
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By the end of this article, I hope, you will be able to say “It’s sentence number {?}” If not, you’ll have to wait until the end of this article for the answer.
The first set of these troubled words are:
Their ~ a pronoun ~ possessive case of they, used as an attributive adjective, before a noun: Their rights as citizens are protected by the Constitution.
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The second in this trio is very simple:
They’re is a contraction of the words they are; They’re going to the store later.
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The most troublesome and misused in place of the first two mentioned is the word there. Of course, we can somewhat blame this on the word itself as it comes in many forms:
Adverb ~ in or at that place; She is there now.
Pronoun ~ 1. Used to introduce a sentence or clause in which the verb comes before its subject or has no complement; There is no hope.
2. That place; He comes from there, too.
Noun ~ that state or condition: I’ll introduce you to Mary, but you’re on your own from there on.
Interjection ~ used to express satisfaction, relief, encouragement, approval, consolation, etc.: There! It’s done!
Adjective ~ used for emphasis, especially after a noun modified by a demonstrative adjective; Ask that man there.
Hopefully you have not left this thread or fainted from overload because we still have one more set of words to tackle - the three ~ oops ~ can’t use any of those except in using all: to, too, two.
All of the following can, as did the previous definitions, be found with their additional meanings at http://www.dictionary.com
To as a:
Preposition ~ used for expressing motion or direction toward a point, person, place or thing approached and reached (as opposed to from); They came to the house.
There are an additional 21 meanings for its use as a preposition.
Adverb ~ toward a point, person, place or thing, implied or understood.
An additional three meanings can be found for usage as an adverb.
Idiom ~ to and fro.
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Too as an:
Adverb ~ in addition; also; furthermore; moreover: He’s young, clever, and rich too.
There are nine more meanings to this word when used as an adverb.
Idiom ~ only.
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Two used as a:
Noun ~ A cardinal number {2}; 1+1=2
There are additional nuances of the usage of this word including adjective and idiom but all involve it as being the number 2.
Why have I decided to write about these bits and pieces to correctly use punctuation and use of the correct word rather than another which ‘somewhat means the same‘?; simply, because it is needed. On all of the sites I am on, there is a myriad of mistakes ~ some for the simple lack of an edit button and some because there is a belief that ‘anything goes’ and ‘you know what I mean’ but it still shows lack of correctness and in the long run, it does matter.
I graduated as ‘Secretary of The Year’ and that honor had, by today’s standard, a modest award but it also brought many job offers. I received this honor because I was the fastest in both dictation and typing and that on a manual typewriter {that is like driving a car without power steering}.
However, I also was the only one in the class that had a dictionary on their lap, checking spelling and usage. While I learned proper usage, spelling eluded me. I knew words and meanings but that was like the name without the face. I did crossword puzzles to strengthen my spelling skills.
In today’s world we have words at our fingertips - no longer needing a hefty book on our lap - instantaneous answers to our questions, so why do we allow ourselves to be lazy or complacent in presenting our words to others?
Only you, the writer, can answer that question; the answer to the correct sentence is number two.
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Impressum
Texte: Paula Louise Shene
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 12.12.2010
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